Can you become a Financial Analyst with a degree in Economics?

[John S]

I am unsure as to what college major is best. I have heard both good and bad things about Accounting, Finance, and Economics. Economics has the highest median salary of any of the business-related degrees, so one could reasonably assume that it's the major in greatest demand. I have heard that Economics graduates have more difficulty immediately coming out of college, however. It's difficult to know what path is best anymore.

[iSpeakTheTruth]

No idea where you got those figures but they're dead wrong. The only undergrad econ degree worth a lot will be from an Ivy league school. Then again, ANY degree from an Ivy league institution is worth a lot, period. Unfortunately, very few people qualify or can pay to afford an Ivy league education.

Econ is the absolute worst undergrad degree of the business areas you quoted. Econ is a social science and you end up with a social science degree that's not taken seriously because you have no skills. The social science approach is to learn the history of a subject, study the major theories other wrote about, then take a test to see how much you can regurgitate from the material. No skill gained. Econ only becomes serious at the graduate school level - unfortunately, undergrad econ makes you ill prepared for it because graduate level econ involves complex mathematics that you do not learn in an undergrad econ program. Fact is, math, engineering, or physics majors have a far better chance of getting into a graduate degree econ program than an undergrad econ major. I emphasize that nearly all econ grads aside from Ivy league school graduates, end up scrambling to take whatever job that comes their way - no one is going to "recruit" them - nobody!

Anyway, if you want to start working after your completion of degree, then you better consider either accounting or finance. Accounting is harder and most students wash out so "demote" themselves to finance (the next "demotion" for those who can't hack it either usually go into marketing). Note that brighter students who can handle accounting usually double major in both accounting and finance to enjoy the best of both worlds. Not really needed though, in my opinion, since accounting can stand alone to be a powerful degree that WILL get you hired upon graduation; this includes the big-4 accounting firms where they will stand in line to recruit you if you do very well academically. Only problem is that accounting as a career requires you to obtain a CPA license, which isn't easy, but it's a license that will drive you home with financial stability the rest of your life.

As for finance, be very careful when seeing "financial analyst" positions advertised. These are usually sales positions which require a degree in anything. Most entering will rapidly quit because consumer sales isn't a job that's easy to do on a long term basis. "Real" financial analysts require a degree in finance or accounting. Not econ!